IS CHICAGO BEAR QUARTERBACK JAY CUTLER A BUST?

The timing might not be perfect for this after Jay Cutler threw for four touchdowns, including the game-winning 39-yard touchdown pass to Devin Aromashadu in overtime to defeat the Minnesota Vikings last night, but the question has to be asked: Is Jay Cutler a bust?

Cutler has been the target of critics from local columnists and sports radio talk show hosts to national TV talking heads, not to mention raising the ire of the local fan base that thought they finally had a “franchise quarterback.”

Even with the stellar game he had yesterday, he still has his critics.

Chicago Sun Times columnist Rick Morrissey wrote in today’s paper that “despite his four touchdown passes against the Vikings, there’s no overwhelming proof yet that he’s the real deal.”

He went on to say “It’s going to take a lot more than Monday night before anyone re-declares him the savior.

He was even compared to strong-armed bust Jeff George last week in a national broadcast.

Yesterday was the Jay Cutler Chicago fans thought they were getting in the trade this past April.

But too many times this season Cutler has targeted the wrong colored jerseys with his passes, and that’s not accounting for the large amount of drops he has had from opposing defenses.

Cutler leads the league with twenty-six interceptions with a game to go. He has thrown twenty-three touchdown passes.

His quarterback rating yesterday was 108.4, but just last week against Baltimore he had the chilly rating of 7.9. And they think its cold in Chicago.

Too many times this year we have seen the Jay Cutler who looked like just about every other quarterback we have had in town since Sid Luckman.

So who was that guy that played for Denver last year and made the Pro Bowl?

Was that a mirage?

Maybe, just maybe the people around him and the system he is in are the reason for his disappointing season. He doesn’t have a No. 1 receiver and probably has a group of No. 3 receivers at best.

He had great success last year with Denver when rolling out of the pocket and throwing the ball on the run. That play is nowhere to be found in Bear Offensive Coordinator Ron Turner’s playbook.

I remember when the Bears made the trade thinking will they know what to do with him.

Since it’s the holiday season, I’m sure you can picture this.

You receive this great Christmas present that you can’t wait to start playing except it says some assembly required. You read the instructions and they might as well be in Chinese because you have no idea how to put it together.

That’s the Cliff-Notes version of the Bear offense. Wow, this guy has a cannon for an arm and can make all of the throws! I wonder how well he can throw the wide receiver screen.

The Bears are using the same offense they used with Kyle Orton. They have not adjusted their game plan to a quarterback who can do so much more.

Many of Cutler’s interceptions are the result of frustration and him trying to force the ball to a receiver when the play isn’t there because his hands have been tied so much by the scheme the Bears use.

He doesn’t respect Offensive Coordinator Ron Turner and hardly ever talks to quarterback coach Pep Hamilton.

Those No. 3 receivers I mentioned also fail to finish out a route or run the wrong route that many times end in an interception. He gets the blame but it’s not always his fault.

His attitude has also been questioned. Comments are made about his body language and that he acts as if he doesn’t care.

How would you feel if you were working for an inept boss who you know doesn’t know what he’s doing and is making you look bad? Would you like it if you were getting all of the blame for what has gone wrong with the Bears this year when you haven’t had a chance to play to your strengths?

How would your attitude be?

I think we all know the answer to that question.

Jay Cutler has had a bad year and I’m not going to deny that, but I am going to defend him because a lot of the circumstances around him were beyond his control.

Cutler was clamoring all year for the Bears to put Devin Aromashadu in the line-up because they built a bond and worked well together in the pre-season. But once the season started he was nowhere to be found until the other Devin, Devin Hester, went down with an injury.

In fairness, Aromashadu was hurt to start the season, but he has been healthy for the last couple of months and languishing on the bench.

The Bears are clueless when it comes to a “franchise quarterback.”

Chicago is known as a “blue collar” town and we play smashmouth defense and run the ball.

That’s the mantra of Chicago Bear Head Coach Lovie Smith who is known for the saying, “We get off the bus running.” That’s why the last time I looked the Bears were last in the league in rushing.

So to answer the question if Jay Cutler is a bust, I would have to say no at this time. In fact, I’m giving him a pass for this season because of the circumstances I have mentioned.

If the Bears bring in someone that has a clue how to run an offense, surround him with better players, and utilizes his strengths, I think we’ll see a different Jay Cutler.

If we don’t, then I reserve the right to change my opinion.

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GUTLESS INDIANAPOLIS COACH JIM CALDWELL DESTROYS COLTS’ PERFECT SEASON

Sports are more than just playing a game. That’s a part of it, but it’s also about history when the circumstances dictate.

The 1972 Miami Dophins are the only team in NFL history to go undefeated and win the Super Bowl. You can still hear them tooting their own horn and cracking champagne each season when the final undefeated team loses.

New England almost became the only team to go 16-0 and win the big game a couple of years ago, but they blew their place in history against the New York Giants.

Indianapolis was on the cusp of a chance to do the unthinkable and knock the Dophins off of their pedastal until fate stepped in, or should I say a gutless coach.

Now there are no guarantees that Indy wins this game or wins the Super Bowl, but the opportunity was there.

You don’t get to 14-0 and then decide to play scared, but that’s exactly what Colts coach Jim Caldwell did. With his team leading 15-10 in the 3rd quarter, he pulled Peyton Manning along with his other starters and inserted rookie QB Chris Painter.

Caldwell’s reasoning was, “A perfect season was never our goal.”

It’s a good thing it wasn’t because the New York Jets stormed back and ended not only Indy’s perfect season but also an NFL record twenty-three game winning streak with a 29-15 decision.

I can give you all of the reasons why he did it.

The Colts already secured home field advantage throughout the playoffs in the AFC.

He didn’t want to risk injury to any key players especially Peyton Manning.

The Super Bowl supercedes everything, so a meaningless regular season game takes a backseat to the ultimate goal.

What legacy do the Colts leave behind if they win the Super Bowl this year? They are one of forty-four teams to win the big game. That’s nothing to sneeze at.

But if they go undefeated and win the Super Bowl, they are now legendary and talked about as the greatest team ever.

Was the decision fair to a sellout crowd of Colt fans that was hoping to see their team go 15-0 with only lowly Buffalo standing in the way of a perfect regular season?

How about the bettors that put money on Indy and lost because the coach decided to forfeit the game?

Now I don’t gamble and I don’t really care about the gamblers, but as everybody knows, the NFL is the most popular professional sport because of gambling.

How does this affect the psyche of the Colt players that had an air of invicibility taken away from them?

You want to go into the playoffs with momentum. Indy had that. They also had the “swagger.”

They knew they were good and expected to win every week. Now there is a bit of doubt in the air.

There is also history as I mentioned at the beginning of this article. A few years back, the Colts decided to rest their players going into the playoffs and got knocked off by the Pittsburgh Steelers?

That also happened with other teams that played scared, or should I say were coached by cowards afraid to expose their players to injury and then lost in the playoffs.

Football is a tough game and injuries can happen at anytime, but Peyton Manning has proven to be a guy who dresses and is ready to play every week. If Caldwell pulled him when they had the victory secured; I’m okay with that.

Caldwell’s decision to pull him in this game when he did was the same to me as throwing the game. If they were so afraid of injuries, why didn’t they just forfeit?

Peyton Manning as usual displayed class going along with the organizations philosophy.

He was asked a question by a reporter if the move surprised or disappointed him. You could see him bite his tounge as he started to answer “I really don’t want to say that.”

He continued with “Any competitive player wants to stay in there and play.”

You could see the disappointment in his body language on the sideline as he stood helpless and watched the Colts’ storied season slip away.

It didn’t have to be that way if it weren’t for a coach that soiled his pants on the sideline.

Instead of viewers tuning in next week and thoughout the playoffs hoping to see history made, they instead have to settle for the ordinary.

And that’s a damn shame.

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Fire Chicago Bear Head Coach Lovie Smith: Now!

Watching the Chicago Bear debacle against Arizona today, despite the late comeback attempt against a team that already put this one in the victory column brings me to one conclusion—Lovie Smith should be fired right now.  This game would have been a repeat of the Cincinnati Bengal game if the Cardinals had the revenge factor with Cedric Benson and put the hammer down the way the Bengals did a couple of weeks ago.

I don’t want to hear from anybody that you can’t change coaches in mid-season of the NFL, because that would mean changing schemes and the players wouldn’t have time to adjust.

The Bears are going nowhere fast anyway, so it really doesn’t matter. THIS IS NOT A PLAYOFF TEAM.

They don’t know what they’re doing on both sides of the ball right now anyway, so what does it matter if they make a change at this time? At least it would give fans hope for the future.

Another year of Lovie-speak is more than I can stand. “We’ll look at the tape and make corrections and go from there.”

To make changes, you need to have someone in charge that knows football and Lovie is sadly lacking in that area. He only knows one defense; has no clue how to make in game adjustments, and is incapable of motivating a team anymore. They’re no longer buying his shtick.

I would like to introduce here the nickname I have for Lovie Smith, a name I feel is absolutely appropriate—LUCKY SMITH.

He was lucky to get the job in the first place. He was undeserving of the opportunity because he wasn’t that great as a defensive coordinator. He obviously has no leadership skills. All you have to do is hear him speak to know that. That also includes his intelligence, or should I say lack of it. Listening to him and his press conferences on a regular basis and you hear the same thing over and over again.

That’s because he doesn’t know anything else. HE’S DUMB. He employs the cover two or Tampa two because his mentor Tony Dungy taught him that. He doesn’t know any other way to play defense.

He fired Rom Rivera after the Super Bowl because he felt threatened by his presence. He likes to put people in place that lack experience and will not question his authority.

Before anyone comments to me that he took the Bears to the Super Bowl, let me shoot down your argument right now.  The Bears went to the Super Bowl in spite of Lucky Smith.

Devin Hester took the Bears to the Super Bowl.

I would have actually fired him with a couple of seconds left in regulation in the playoff game against Seattle that year when he called time out with Seattle having the ball with a couple of seconds left at midfield.

The only thing that could have happened would have been Seattle either scoring a touchdown or getting a defensive penalty that would have allowed them to kick the game winning field goal and keeping the Bears from making the Super Bowl.

If I were Jerry Angelo, I would have called Lovie Smith at that point, told him he was fired, and tell him to hand the phone to Ron Rivera and tell him he’s taking over the team.

The year before they lost to Carolina in the playoffs when the stubborn and clueless Smith continued to play wide receiver Steve Smith with one-on-one coverage as he burned them again and again and sent them packing their bags and heading to vacation.

He played his beloved defense against Indianapolis in the Super Bowl against a quarterback in Peyton Manning that knows that defense in his sleep. He did nothing to change things up.

That’s the only reason the vastly overrated Tony Dungy ever won a Super Bowl, because he went against his clueless pupil. He never won it with very talented Tampa teams, and only once with the potent Colts.

‘Lucky’ Smith then got a $22 million extension for four years beyond the one year Lucky had left on his contract, effectively locking the Bears into mediocrity at least for the next five years, because the cheap McCaskey clan will not pay off that contract to send him away.

He had a year left on his contract when he received the extension. You didn’t have to extend him at that time. Of course the media chimed in and Lovie put on a push for an extension, and the weak-minded Angelo gave in to him and tied the Bears’ hands for several years.

Why make that decision when Smith was in a position of power? It’s not like the Bears won the Super Bowl. If they waited to the next year when the Bears failed to make the playoffs, now management is in the position of power.

They could extend him at far less money and years, or they could make the smart decision at that time and replace him. Either way they come out far better.

The Bears constantly lose games because of the cluelessness of Smith, including that game last year when the Bears lost a game against Atlanta when they took the lead with eleven seconds left in the game and somehow still lost.

There are too many examples of this under his reign. His game management is non-existent.

I’m not just saying fire him without having a plan.

To give the team the best chance to try to save the season, you can bring in Mike Shanahan. Cutler knows him and his offense, and that will change things dramatically right from the start. Shanahan is also a top-notch NFL head coach; not an unimaginative defensive coordinator who was given a job he did not deserve.

Bill Cowher is also out there and either one of them would be a great addition no matter what happens the rest of this season.

Let me repeat—THE BEARS ARE GOING NOWHERE THIS YEAR.

Now I know the cheap and clueless Bears will not do this. Winning is not important, making money is. Giving away money is a no-no.

The Bears might have lost last week against Cleveland in an abysmal victory if Brady Quinn started the game instead of Derek Anderson, but he has a huge bonus based on the percentage of plays he participates in. Like I said, winning is not important, the bottom line is.

Trading for Jay Cutler was supposed to turn this team around with a franchise-type quarterback, but as I said when they made the trade, “If you don’t know how to use him, it doesn’t matter how talented he is.”

The Bears bought a new toy, but they read the instructions and didn’t know how to put it together, so it sits there unused.

This season is a disgrace! I do a sports radio show every Sunday and miss the beginning of the game if it starts at noon. In previous years, under the Smith regime, I would go grocery shopping after the show and get home in time for the second half.

This year, I figured with Cutler, I had to get home as soon as possible so I could see every minute because I was so looking forward to having a quarterback for once in my lifetime.

Instead, they have the same team they had in the past. There may be a new name at quarterback, a guy with far better skills than they had before, but it’s still the same old team.

After the Bengal game, Smith said he didn’t have the team ready to play. He made the same statement after the Falcons loss. I wonder what he’s going to say today. If he can’t get his team ready to play, should he still be the head coach?

They’ve tuned him out and now it’s time to turn him loose. It’s time to fire ‘Lucky Smith.’

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